Ranma 199X
by Dikey
Summary: Many years have passed since the events narrated in the manga. Ranma and Akane managed to get married and they have a daughter, but their happy ending didn't last long. In the year 199X, the earth was engulfed in Nuclear Flames. And now Ranma has to struggle to protect those who are dear to him while looking for the man with seven scars in his chest, the only one who may save Akane
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer** : Though this is not my first fanfiction, this is the first time I started one in english. As you may have already understood, I am not a native english speaker. If you find any mistake, please, feel free to point it out.

* * *

It was already night when Ranma came back home. The wooden floor creaked soflty under the weight of the pigtailed martial artist when he sat on the porch where once his father and his wife's used to spend their days playing many years have passed, since he first fell in the pond? A little over fifteen, maybe. It was kinda hard taking track of time in those days.

The pond was now dry, and the garden was just a plot of burnt land.

His mother came and sat beside him.

"How is she, mother?"

Nodoka forced herself to smile at his son

"It's been a good day. She ate her meals quietly, and she called Ranko by her name."

"Speakin' of Ranko, where's the little imp? Playin' with the other brats, I guess."

"Oh yes – said his mother smiling, for real this time – She seems rather fond of the Hibiki child. She's like a big sister to him."

Ranma smiled. Who would have thought, back in the day? His daughter playin' big sis with Ryoga's own brat. She'd better not let him go of his hand, otherwise who knew when they would have seen the boy again.

When Ryoga first told everybody that Akari was pregnant, Ranma was shocked: he never thought that Ryoga's seed would have manage to find its way; in the end, he came to the conclusion that the spermatozoon who won the race was actually on his march from their wedding night, 5 years before the baby was coinceved. Thankfully, the baby managed to get out safely: Akari's genes must have kicked in.

"Poor kid – Nodoka continued – having lost his mother at such a young age."

"Akane is not lost, mother!" yelled Ranma, jumping on his feet

"I-I was referring to the Hibiki child, my son."

The man felt ashamed, and bowed to the woman, silently asking her to forgive his rudeness, something she had already done.

Ranma excused himself and moved to the little room he shared with his wife and kid. Before the day when hell broke loose, that was Akane's room. It was destroyed along with Nabiki's and Kasumi's, but the men of the house rebuilt everything that was destroyed.

It wasn't easy, though. Every now and then, a group of punks would show up and they were forced to deal with them in ways Ranma never thought it would have to do.

He laid next to his wife and called her name but, as usual, there was no response.

He was not prepared for this.

The next morning, Ranma found Ryoga by the well. It was surprising, since Ryoga had left his house to get some water only four days earlier. Of course, the distance between Ryoga's house and the well was a little above 300 yards.

"Ryoga, glad to see you; only four days since the last time we saw you! That must be a new record."

"Zip it, you moron. Drink first, chat later."

The fact that Ryoga choose to drink rather than insulting him was a testament to how thirsty the man was.

"You have to tell me, how do you even manage to get lost? We have a wall all around the perimeter. Can't you just turn back when you face the wall?"

Ryoga kept on drinking, spilling water on himself

"Man, even our curses can be cured, but there's no cure for stupidity."

A razor sharp bandana flought from Ryoga to Ranma's neck, forcing the pigtailed man to dodge by jumping upon Ryoga's, forcing his head in the bucket, smirking.

"Too bad you're not turning into P-chan anymore. I could have used a snack."

Ryoga was about to burst, burning with anger, but now his fighting spirit was gone while the smile melted off Ranma's face.

They completed their task in silence, and then moved back towards their homes.

"So... – said Ryoga – how is she doing?"

"As usual. It's...she's..."

Ranma wasn't able to speak further, and Ryoga did not have the strenght to ask. He looked at Ranma, wondering if he should share the information he recently obtained. But he could not stay silent any longer.

"I have heard something...it's about a man. They said he can make miracles happen with a touch of his finger."

"Yeah...haven't heard that before. Whazzat, Jesus or something?"

"They said it looked like him, but I wasn't referring to him. That one is somewhere out there, in the east – said Ryoga, pointing his hand to what he believed was east, which was, of course, west-south-west – I've heard it took down someone called Karnel, or something. Dunno, some big shot of the west. Fact is, seems like he's able to cure the mute and restore sight."

"Two Jesus, then! Or is it Jesuses?"

Ryoga grabbed the other man by the wrist, preventing him to move further.

"They said he has seven scars on his chest. Seven scars as to mimic the seven stars of the Big Dipper. The Big Dipper, Saotome!"

Enraged, Ranma broke free of the hold, spilling a lot of water in the process.

"What are you suggesting, Ryoga?"

"I'm saying that there may be a chance to fix..."

"FIX? – he started yelling – FIX? Whose fault it is if she's in that state in the first place? How can I even trust those maniacs?

You think that it can be fixed?  
You weren't there, Ryoga! You didn't see! That was her father!"

Just remembering it made Ranma almost barf, forcing him to cover his mouth with his right hand. The whole room was painted red with blood and pieces of what was once a human being. The smell, strong enough to make people faint.

From that moment onwards, whenever Ranma heard the saying "picture of hell" he would always think of that moment.

But even in that mess, the blood wasn't enough to hide that face, deformed by pain unknown to man. They had to burn down the shack where Tendo-san hid to prevent his daughters from seeing his last moments. But, of course, trying to force Akane to do something she doesn't want to it's like trying to stop the bullet train barehanded. If forced to choose between those two alternatives, Ranma would have always picked the train: at least, it didn't strike back with a mallet.

But, that day, he should have been stronger. He should have been more forceful.

"SHISHI HOKODAN!"

A purple ki blast grazed Ranma's face with enough strenght to knock him down before taking flight and disappearing in the clouded sky.

Ryoga looked down on him, with a disgusted expression on his face.

"You are not the only who's suffering. But you keep forgetting that."

Then, he moved forward, leaving Ranma on the ground.

"Ryoga!" Ranma shouted

The man turned his head towards Ranma who pointed the direction opposite to where Ryoga was going.

"Your house is over here."

* * *

Ranko was playing with a ball made out of rags when Ranma came back. She tossed the ball in the air, and then she started to hit it to keep it floating.

She heard her father and tackled him. Of course, Ranma could have resisted the tackled, but choose to play along, and soon the little Ranko was sitting triumphant on his chest.

"Da'! You're back early!"

"Just to stay with you, little imp. What were you doing?"

"I was just showing Shoichi the Keep-the-ball-in-the-air move of the Saotome School of Anything-Goes-Martial-Arts!"

Koichi was Ryoga's son. However, there was no trace of him in sight. Ranma pointed this out to his little girl and Ranko sighted

"Geez, it happens every time. I wanted him to met mommy once and he kept appearing in auntie's room. Oh, house not big anyway. I can catch him."

The 7 years old looked determined, and Ranma felt pity for the guy who'll try to date her one day. Phisically, she looked just like his former female form, but her attitude was just like Akane's, which was not a good thing: since there's always need to repair stuff, there are a few too many mallets around.

"Da'! Story!"

The girl knocked on the floor (with enough strenght to crack it a little) to show her father were he was supposed to sit and then jumped on his lap.

"So...Do you want to hear the Tale of Pantyhose Taro?"

"Yes!"

"Once upon a time, there was a loser. He was a loser among losers. He was such a loser that everyone felt sorry for him. He has been a loser since birth..."

* * *

Ranko fell asleep while Ranma was telling the tale about how the handsome pigtailed protagonist smashed the loser pride with a single well-delivered kick, while the Pigman and Moomoo did nothing but watching.

Ranko never met Taro or Mousse. She never had a chance to taste Ucchan's okonomiyakis. Not before long, Ranma thought, she would forget how the world used to look like before all this madness.

Will she forget her mother's voice? How warm her hugs were?

He took her to the bed, founding Shoichi in the process. The boy was sleeping in the kitchen. He must have tried to came back to the living room before giving up.

Ryoga's genes were certaintly the dominant ones in this little one.

A little boy, just over 5 years old, that would never met his mother again. There's nothing anyone can do about it.

But maybe there was a chance for Ranko.

An hour later, Ranma had invaded Ryoga house. He managed to find Ryoga in his room and tossed a whole bucket full of cold water on him.

"YOU BLOODY BAST..."

"Goodmorning to you, Ryoga. That was for the Shishi Hokodan earlier today.

Now that we are even, tell me more about the man with seven scars on his chest."


	2. The Day that changed everything

_**author's note:** thanks to those who are following the story! As usual, I remind everyone that english is not my native language, so feel free to point my mistakes._

 _This is the chapter where the "hokuto" part of the crossover enters the fray._

 _I'd love to read your comments and thoughts on the matter!_

* * *

Ranma and Ryoga had a long talk that night. While Ryoga didn't have many information about that man with seven scars on his chest, Ranma interrupted him often, asking each question at least twice.

"Do you thing is the same guy who took down KING?"

"I doubt it – Ryoga said – after all, the Ken-Oh was the one who took his turf, and he ain't the kind of man that would let another martial artist alive. We all know that too well.

Anyway, according to Johnny, the guy has two kids following him, a boy and a girl. You should talk to him."

"Who's Johnny?"

"The guy who runs the bar at the oasis."

Ranma raised an eyebrow

"The one who tried to sell us that undrinkable alcohol? Not really a reliable source, eh Ryoga?"

"He was the only one willing to talk. Even if the oasis is barely outside of Ken-Oh's area of influence, people don't really like to talk about that man where there could be ears very unhappy to hear that around. Plus, they don't know when his army will match further north, and they'd rather be on his good side; everyone knows what expects those who defy him."

Ryoga kept for himself that he actually understood why people may accept the Ken-Oh as their ruler. He would never say that in front of Ranma, but since the very day Nerima became part of Ken-Oh's kingdom, the attacks from those wandering bands of bandits had ceased.

He was a tyrant, but nevertheless an efficient one. Heck, the medicine they use to heal their sick ones came from Medicine City, right in the middle of his kingdom, a place that was almost inaccessible a couple of years before!

"You should talk to Johnny."

"I will. Thanks Ryoga."

"No need to thank me. Just … GET OFF MY HEAD!"

And that was not a figure of speech, since Ranma was just sitting in the most comfortable place in the house: the top of Ryoga's head.

"Old habits die hard" said Ranma, without a single hint of apology

And still, when Ryoga sent him flying through the roof, Ranma still believed that Ryoga overreacted.

* * *

Since he was too hot outside during the day, Ranma waited until the late afternoon to leave. He packed a week worth of supplies, a cloak and a pair of goggles against sand. A week was a very optimistic estimate, but that was as far as he could go. After all, a week was a very long time and , without him, his town was basically defenseless.

Ryoga was an amazing martial artist, but he could not find the way from his room to his front door, so...

"Well, I'm off."

Akane stayed silent, as usual. Ranma caressed her face

"Things are gonna be okay. Trust me on that."

He said goodbye to his mother and daughter, entrusting Ryoga's son to the little girl ("be careful he doesn't end up in Brazil") and left the house, only to find Tofu-sensei and Kasumi outside his door.

Tofu and his sister-in-law were always together, but not for romantic reasons.

The doctor was the first man to leave the shelter after the nuclear blast, hoping to help every man and woman left behind. He worked for a whole week without sleeping or eating and he probably would have gone ever further but suddenly he passed out after coughing blood.

No good deed goes unpunished. He went out in the open too soon to save lives, forfeiting his own in the process.

What was once a doctor and a martial artist was now a man crooked on a cane who couldn't go very far without his nurse.

However, he did not gave up on his patient and choose to spent every day he had left treating them and training others to do the same.

"Are you really going to search for that man?"

"How do you know that?"

Tofu smiled

"I said to Ryoga that I wouldn't help him find the bathroom if he didn't tell me. If you don't want other people to notice you, then you may want to avoid sneaking in someone's house in the middle of the night and getting out through the roof."

"If you are to try to change my mind..."

"I am not. I know a lost cause when I see one. But I think that you should know what happened on that day. You need to be prepared."

So, Tofu started his tale.

* * *

In all probability, the attack on Nerima was not planned in advance. Either that or the scouts from the Ken-Oh army did a very poor job. The first wave was composed by bikers armed with axes. The noise from their bikes was a strong as thunder, and a weapon in itself, striking the heart of the people who heard them coming with fear.

They were yelling, weaving their weapons in the air, ready to strike.

But they found Ryoga on their path.

The man was not bothered by the noise nor impressed by the bikes and stood his ground until the first men ended up in his range.

Then, he just put his hands on the ground.

"Bakusai Tenketsu!"

A rain of debris, small rocks and sand fell upon the first two bikers, knocking them out of their bikes, while a third one avoided the rain of debris, but not the hole left in the ground by the Bakusai Tenketsu. Too fast to stop, his bike crushed and the rider went straight into Ryoga, who knocked him down with a blow to head, strong enough to crush his helmet.

The riders changed strategy, circling around Ryoga, using whips and chains to hit him. One of them managed to catch Ryoga but his wrist and dragged him onto the ground, scratching his face and body.

However, Ryoga recovered faster then the rider expected, and stopped the bike dead on its tracks, before tossing the rider against another using the very chain which caught his wrist.

Two others fell to his bandannas and the attack ceased. Clearly, the attackers weren't expecting such a defender. Some of them tried to fall back; their bodies managed to, but their heads didn't.

"Ryuga-Sama!"

"Did I ordered the retreat?"

The silver-haired man looked at Ryoga, noticing the men lying at his feet and ordered the remaingriders to ignore him and enter the village.

"Like I'd let 'em go!"

Ryoga attacked again with his bandannas, but this time they were catched mid-air.

The other man closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye, and Ryoga barely managed to avoid a swift downward strike by jumping.

The man's fingertip were covered in Ryoga's blood.

"What are you made of? That hit should have taken your heart."

"My heart is already taken, by a girl way more beautiful than you!"

Ryoga counterattacked with a fist powerful enough to make a hole in the ground, but his opponent dodged. They traded blows, blocking and dodging each other attacks without managing to land a single good hit. However, Ryoga was slower than his opponent and Ryuga slashed him on the shoulder. Still, while fast, Ryuga's attack was not enough to pierce through Ryoga's skin, hardened by his training with Cologne to learn the Bakusai Tenketsu, and the man's fingers got stuck.

That was more than enough for Ryoga, who landed a clean blow right in the man's abdomen.

Ryoga was now bleeding from his chest and left shoulder and his opponent was coughing blood.

Then, I suddenly felt an extremely cold shiver, and so did Ryoga. A second later, we could hear Akane yelling.

At this point, Ranma interrupted the tale to ask Tofu-sensei what he was doing and how did he knew such things. The doctor replied that he and a group of helpers were there to build quick but efficient barricades that prevented the bikers from going further into the village, and took care of them.

Akane's distressed voice, however, forced Ryoga to leave the fight unresolved, which may have been for the best, given his condition. While not immediately life-threatening, his wounds were deep. The silver-haired man fell on his knees, the moment Ryoga left the fight.

Ryoga and I ran towards Akane, but the closer we got, the stronger the pressure. It was like an hand holding us, tighter and tighter as we went forward.

Soon, we reached our destination.

There, we saw a massive man on an incredibly big horse. His Ki was so strong that the very air around him looked reddish and distorted.

Soun was wearing his samurai armor, wielding a Naginata, and Happosai had taken an aggressive

"I know you, punk – he said – You are one of Ryuken's! What his that fool doing, letting you disrespectful brat running around doing as you please?"

"Ryuken died by my hand."

That words were enough to freeze Happosai in place. The smile vanished from his face.

"So...I guess you are the new Denshosha of Hokuto Shinken."

"Such titles mean nothing to me – the Ken-Oh raised his fist – I am the King of Fists, The conqueror of the century's end!"

"You are a bad kid, that is. And you need to be punished."

Happosai manifested his battle aura, creating a giant version of himself, and Soun did the same. They both attacked at the same time and horse jumped at an amazing high, reaching their gigantic heads.

There were flashes followed by the sound of fist clashing and after what seemed like an eternity, the Ken-Oh landed safely and the giant versions of Happosai and Sound were dispelled.

Soun had lost his right shoulderguard and Happosai had a broken nose, but one of the horns of their opponent's helm was broken.

However, the Ken-Oh did not falter. He just smiled and dismounted.

"Impressive. It's been a long a time since I had to fight on the same ground as my opponents."

Soun gave him no time, and attacked using his naginata, aiming for the neck. The Ken-oh managed to deflect the attack using his forearm and countered with a fist, but Happosai stood between his apprentice and the king, blocking that fist using all his fingers.

He then vanished from sight, only to reappear a moment later behind the Ken-oh's back. Sound jumped out of the way and Happosai yelled

"Happo Daikirin!"

The explosion was strong enough to create a small crater, but the Ken-Oh stood there in the middle, unfazed.

"Are you resorting to tricks and toys already, old man?"

At this point, Ryoga would have jumped in, but I stopped him by using a pressure point that prevented his legs to move. He was unable to use his left arm and the blood loss was too severe. He would have been a nuisance.

Soun attacked again, spinning his Naginata, but the Ken-oh avoided every single hit with no difficulties. Happosai tried to catch him unprepared coming from his blind spot but the kick went nowhere.

Then, Soun jumped in the air and performed a diving slash. This time, the naginata struck true!

Or, that is what it looked like for a moment.

The blade shattered the moment it came in contact with the body of the Ken-Oh, whose smile had never disappeared in the whole fight.

He just raised his palm towards Soun

"Gosho Ha!

Soun went flying across the street and crushed into a wall.

Then, Happosai went mad.

He started jumping all around the Ken-oh, bouncing off walls, ground and poles, too fast for eye to catch him. Once he gained enough momentum, he went for the kill.

A razor-sharp kick imbued with ki. Strong enough to split the ground beneath them.

But the Ken-Oh was faster.

His fist hit Happosai in the chest. Blood came out of Happosai's ears, mouth and nose. But then, the old master smiled

"I got you now, you punk!"

A flurry of bombs, point blank.

The explosion was blinding, the wave pierced everyone's eardrums, and the buildings closer to the blast were reduced to ashed. The whole division of the Ken-Oh's army that was watching the fight was blasted away.

But he...

His armor was destroyed by the blast. His chest blackened and scorched by the explosion.

But he stood still.

"Such a puny flame will never burn away my ambition."

He smashed Happosai to the ground and raised his hand for the final blow, but stopped.

"I would not do that, if I were you."

I wasn't even looking in her direction, but he felt Akane's killing intent. She stayed hidden, as her father begged her to do, but she could no longer accept that. She grabbed bow and arrow, and now was about to attack the Ken-Oh. But he saw that coming.

"Akane! Don't!" I yelled

But you know her. She did not hesitated a moment and aimed straight for the heart.

But the arrow was catched mid-air and sent back to her. And it would have killed her, had Soun not jumped in the way.

Soun took the arrow in his shoulder. He was losing blood from every orifice, his body was broken: only the love for his daughter allowed him to stand.

Then, he performed a dogeza.

"Have mercy! We surrender! We give up! We will fight against the Mighty Ken-oh no more!"

"Do you recognize me as your ruler, then?"

"Yes! I do! We do! But I beg you, spare their lives."

The horse approached his master, who mounted him almost immediately.

Soun was crying and losing blood, no longer a threat. We all thought it was finally over. The Ken-Oh moved closer to Soun, whom Akane helped to stand up. It took a moment to crush our hopes: the moment the Ken-Oh pierced Soun's chest with his finger.

"I will grant you three days of respite! I could send you to hell right away, but then you would not know fear!

Three Days!

I hit the Shinketsushu! In three days your blood will explode and you will die! Lament and Wallow in the fear of death!

Die in fear, and became part of my legend."

Then, he just left. The remaining men of his army completed the work, though no more blood was spilled anymore on that day.

You know what happened after that.

* * *

Ranma clinched his fist so hard that the nails went deep into his skin while trying to fight back tears of rage.

"If only I was around...if only I had not choose that day to go..."

"I will always be thankful for that. We needed the medicine. And the fact that you were away just saved your life."

"Why...why did you told me all that?"

"Because I want you to understand who your opponent is. Do not thing of him as a man, but as a demon. Do not fight him, Ranma. Wherever your road may lead you, do not fight against him. We keen you. You family needs you. You and Ryoga are our last hope."

Ranma didn't say a word.

He wasn't able to.


End file.
